To Live As Jews

The horrific attack in Itamar is a wake up call to the entire Jewish people.

The tranquility of Shabbat was shattered on March 11, 2011, when a Palestinian terrorist broke into the home of the Fogel family in Itamar, and stabbed to death both parents and three children. We grieve this horrific and tragic loss.

Though the world media - focused on Libya and Japan - is barely noting the tragedy, every thinking person must introspect on what this all means in the big picture. The following article, written in 2002 at the height of Intifada violence, gives voice to our cries.

What will be the end of the murderous situation in the Middle East? Political experts are skeptical of any diplomatic solution on the horizon. Military sources offer only stop-gap measures to curb terror and can find no practical way to win this war. Israel is even losing most of the political and media battles, as many sympathize with the Arabs.

In 2002, when a sniper began gunning down innocent citizens in Washington DC, millions of people felt terrified for their lives. The security they needed to live a normal life was undermined. In terror attacks in Israel, thousands of Israeli civilians have been murdered and thousands more seriously injured. Buses, stores, restaurants and hotels are under frequent attack. Clearly, the Jewish state faces a threat to its very existence. How will its people carry on their daily lives?

This is the very goal of Israel's enemies, to cripple the will of the nation through fear and suffering. With the feeling of paralysis that accompanies each terror attack, we ask: How much more can we bear? How much longer can we risk the lives of our children?

Looking Back

At this time we must look back. Surely we Jews have been here before. Our ancestors have faced massive threats of extinction, yet they survived. We, who are alive today, are descended from those survivors.

How did they view such circumstances?

They saw the events of their time as the unfolding of their God-given destiny.

They considered their spiritual response as equally important to whatever political, military or media strategies they employed against their oppressors.

They believed that radical personal and communal change was the catalyst to avert any impending threat.

Since the outbreak of the Intifada in 2000, it has become painfully obvious that this conflict is not primarily about land. It is about Jews.

Polls taken report that 70 percent of Israelis and 80 percent of Palestinians view this as a battle over the existence of the Jewish State.

Many of us were born into a world where the State of Israel always existed. But what if Israel's enemies unite? What if the Arab armies join the 40,000-strong Palestinian "police force" and try to "liberate" Jerusalem from the "Jewish infidels"?

The Jewish people's response to "Death to the Jews!" has always been to "Live as Jews!" If evil targets us because we envision a world built on moral values, then our answer must be to live even more passionately according to those values.

Today there is an increase of anti-Semitism, but it has donned the cloak of anti-Zionism. This attack on the continued existence of the Jewish state must prompt us to do some serious personal and national soul-searching.

In 1948, the world looked on as the Jews returned to Zion ? the Jewish people emerging from the ashes of the Holocaust, back in their own land. What would they create?

Facing repeated attacks, the citizens of the young state spent most of their waking hours worrying about survival. And when there was time to come up for air, they had to build a country: roads, schools, infrastructure and institutions. Who had time to think about a higher national purpose? It was enough to know that Israel would be a place of refuge for Jews around the world if another holocaust threatened.

Modern Zionism saw Israel as a safe haven from anti-Semitism. Today that safe haven no longer exists. Who could imagine that the next threat of the destruction of millions of Jews would actually occur within the borders of Israel?

Unique Purpose

But Israel was meant to be something much more than an escape hatch. It was meant to be the springboard from which the Jewish people would carry out its destiny.

Jews around the globe must ask ourselves: Have we so lost track of Israel's purpose that Israel will be taken away from us? Have we so squandered our opportunity to build a Jewish homeland that we will end up losing that land? Elie Wiesel compared modern Jewry to a messenger that was hit on the head and knocked out. When he woke up, he couldn't remember the message, who had sent him, to whom he had been sent, nor the very fact of his being a messenger.

Perhaps we have lost sight of the very uniqueness of our destiny. Judaism is much more than a religion, much more than a national identity. It is to be a light unto the nations, to repair the world, and to be a source of blessing to humanity. And this is to come about by the Jews living according to their tradition in their ancestral land, the Land of Israel.

How can the tiny Jewish nation be a catalyst for world repair? Christian scholar and historian Paul Johnson wrote in his bestseller, "History of the Jews":

One way of summing up 4,000 years of Jewish history is to ask ourselves, what would have happened to the human race if Abraham had not been a man of great sagacity; or if he had stayed in Ur and kept his higher notions to himself, and no specific Jewish people had come into being. Certainly the world without the Jews would have been a radically different place.

All the great conceptual discoveries of the intellect seem obvious and inescapable once they have been revealed, but it requires a special genius to formulate them for the first time. The Jews had this gift. To them we owe the ideas of equality before the law, both divine and human; of the sanctity of life and the dignity of the human person; of the individual conscience, and so of personal redemption; of the collective conscience, and so of social responsibility; of peace as an abstract ideal, and love as the foundation of justice; and many other items which constitute the basic moral furniture of the human mind.

Imagine a country whose moral fabric was so woven with those values that you could palpably feel them when first setting foot on its land. Imagine an economy, a social and health system that derived from and breathed those commitments. Imagine an educational and legal system built on this moral foundation. Imagine a nation that took upon itself the fulfillment of a 4,000-year-old covenant to be a light unto the nations.

We have always been a people with boundless faith and hope in the future. We believed in our unique purpose even when exiled from one country to another. We suffered cruelty and abandonment even as we continued to teach the world about a loving God. We strove to bring goodness to the world, thereby becoming the target of the world's greatest evil. What will be the end of the murderous situation in the Middle East? It will surely not end until we heed its message, a message that is calling out to each and every concerned Jew. Whether in Israel or in the Diaspora, whether Jewishly knowledgeable or Jewishly unschooled, whether religious or not ? this is a wake up call to reexamine our ties to our people. To reaffirm our Jewish identity and divine mission.

Just as our enemies have never differentiated between Jews, so too must we make no exceptions. Wake up! We're all in this together.

About the Author

Shalom Schwartz grew up in Toronto and fell in love with Israel upon his first visit in 1972. After working on a kibbutz for six months, he met Rabbi Noah Weinberg zt'l, and this led to seven years of studying and teaching in Jerusalem. In 1981, he became the founding Director of Aish Toronto, a position he held for 10 years. In 1991, Shalom and his family made aliyah, where he organized and directed Aish's Russian Program, including Operation Community, an educational and social network for Russian Jews in Israel and the FSU. From 2001-2005, he led Aish Jerusalem's leadership development program. He was co-executive producer of the film, Relentless: the Struggle for Peace in Israel, and produced five short films for the Israeli market. He is currently leadership coaching for Aish Jerusalem, and developing Project Aseret, which aims to establish the Ten Commandments as a central element of Israeli national identity. Shalom and his wife Debbie have 7 amazing children and 6 delicious grandchildren.

The opinions expressed in the comment section are the personal views of the commenters. Comments are moderated, so please keep it civil.

Visitor Comments: 51

(45)
Yaakov,
April 14, 2011 8:21 AM

Israeli Jews as Revisionist Historians

Yes, all Jews are in this together but, unfortunately, the erev rav is still with us, especially in Israel. We have leading academic scholars in our top Israeli universities, and high profile media and social activists, who for decades have been and are still revising Zionist and Israeli history and claiming that the Jews as responsible for the Palestinian Arabs current situation and in becoming refugees following the 1948 War of Independence. So I feel, and hopefully other Jews agree, that it is hard for Israeli Jews, and Jews in the Diaspora, to accept and reconcile their presence in our homeland and provocative revisionist propoganda.

(44)
Anonymous,
March 20, 2011 12:46 AM

Desolate

Without Israel, The Jewish Homeland, and the Torah, and the Jewish People, this world would implode with sheer wickedness. I simply am not able to imagine there not being the Aforementioned, it is too horrific a contemplation.
Hashem B"H has enacted the Eternal covenant, so there is the only source of security, for the existence of life. Our role, in my opinion, is tikkun.

(43)
Sandra L. johnson,
March 18, 2011 7:47 PM

Unite as one family

We who call ourselves Jews are as diverse as the
world we come from.Its the Torah which reminds us to be one because our God is one,its up to us to follow to this in our own way.
For the next generation its time to be passionate . A honorable people who's commandment is is to embrace life and peace with strong resolve! Lachaim!

(42)
Binh Tran,
March 18, 2011 6:10 AM

The Two Nations in the womb

After reading your article and wonder the passage in the scriptures Gen 25:23, I wonder if this meant to speak of present time? I had study Judaism for almost 2 years learned from weekly rabbis commentaries on weekly parsha teachings from Tanakh and talmud, for the first time I learn the history of the Jewish people and history of the Patriachs and Matriachs I can't compare to any other nations or people has to go through so much for the sake of G-d Hollines Name. In short I like to say Blessed to be G-d of Abraham, Issac and Jacob and I thank G-d for the Jewish people who have to go through all this and endured for almost 4000 yrs. I came to faith and believed in only One G-d and that is the G-d of Israel, and at last, in the two nations in the womb, there is a happy ending to this story the name Yisrael , Ya'akov was changed to Yisrael because he shown his strength to both G-d and men and have prevailed. I believed in the G-d of Israel and I also believed Israel today also will prevail, because G-d of Ya'akov saids so, He will deliver Ya'akov.

(41)
Isahiah62,
March 17, 2011 9:43 PM

Zionism was not just response to Holocaust

Good article but left out one very important fact that our enemies love to cite as justification to remove Jews from Israel- do not say ZIONISM was only response to Holocaust- it pre-dates that event by many years- our enemies love to say EU Jews should not be in MidEast at all. You must always cite the 500,000 Sephardi Jews expelled from Arab and Persian lands - money confiscated, lands stolen and businesses co-opted- and the 25,000 expelled from Egypt in 57 --You must always prove it is a more than fair exchange for the 500,000 Arab refugees who left voluntarily- and now number inthe millions b/c Arab nations refuse them citizenship or work or land. Most people even many Jews are unawareof these facts- At one time the AXIS Arab nations were ZIONISTS too- more than happy to make their lands Judenrein by sending them to Palestine, which att he time was considered a JEWISH AREA.
For certin critics the idea of the land being mandated by a Higher Power just will not work- we must prove Israel is fully :legitimate as the ohter nations created after WW2 (Jordan Lebanon Iraq etc) Thank you.

(40)
Emil David,
March 16, 2011 2:03 PM

nothing but the best

I have reading articles about Jewish and Israel, but his has for me
unique and best that all together.
Shalom
ep

(39)
Miriam,
March 16, 2011 8:39 AM

Only the date has changed!

See "Their Light Remembered" - Miriam Meir (2007 ?) or "Understanding the Bat Mitzvah Attack" - Rabbi Chaim Levine (2003). Aish.com is sadly full of stories trying to grapple with our response to murderous Jew-haters. We have been told that if we do not learn from History, it will repeat itself. "Anah, Hashem! Tateh! Let us learn and fulfill whatever it is we must do to end this history! Our hearts are broken! Haven't we filled the cup of tears to overflowing yet?!"

(38)
BH in Iowa,
March 16, 2011 2:01 AM

"I will be their mother" Says 12 Year Old Tamar Fogel

http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/142906

(37)
Lawrence Schreder,
March 15, 2011 9:22 PM

It is a shame when two people descended from one man cannot learn to overcome their anger and learn to live in peace instead of attacking ang killing the other because of their resentment of the other.

(36)
smb,
March 15, 2011 8:17 PM

come together

It's a horrible tragedy.
We can do something positive though if we Jews unify. Hold on to each other and our values and hope. With every positive act whether it's giving tzadaka to someone, learning together, working on personal growth and prayer etc. we can make a difference. Lets remember, there is a light at the end of the tunnel, may it come soon, G-d willing

(35)
Anonymous,
March 15, 2011 7:27 PM

we are al responsible for eachother!

whe nwe w put in galus, al lth jews wer punished. hahsme dint singl out anyone. th onlyway to bring moshaich in an end ths tragedy. to end he darknes every jew ned to feel the toh pain an sorrow and to help more. why should it take s tragedy fo jeiwsh peole to get involved and care? may Hahsme health fogel's pain in sireal an all th japanese vicitims of this earthquke. may the two bochrim form isreal go fre from japan as well!

(34)
Anonymous,
March 15, 2011 5:12 PM

SO PROUD OF YOU. IF ALL JEWS UNITED IN LOVE, RESPECT AND CHERISHED ONE ANOTHER TODAY, NOT ONLY WE WOULD BE THE STRONGEST NATION IN THE WORLD, NOT ONLY WE WOULD CRUMBLE OUR ENEMIES BUT WE WOULD SEE GREAT MIRACLES. THAT'S THE ONLY ANSWER TO WINNING THIS TRAGEDY. I INTERPERT ALL THESE NIGHTMARES ONLY ONE WAY. HASHEM IS COMMENDING US TO UNITE AS BROTHERS AND SISTERS THAT WE ARE, WITHOUT ANY SEGREGATION AS TO WHAT RELIGIOUS, POLITICAL, BUSINESS GROUPS WE BELONG TO. SACRED JUDAISM CAN ONLY BE PRESERVED IN UNITY AND DEEP LOVE AND REALLY CARING FOR ONE ANOTHER. JUDAISM, ISRAEL'S EXISTENCE, NOT MONETARY BENEFIT IS OUR OBLIGATION. IF AN ELECTED OFFICIAL IS AGAINST ISRAELI POLICIES, HE SHOULD NOT BE REELECTED AT LEAST BY JEWS, JUST BECAUSE THERE IS A MONETARY BENEFIT. AS SIMPLE AND AS STRINGENT AS THAT. BAAL SHEM TOV'S DYING FATHER ADVISED HIS YOUNG SON "DON'T BE AFRAID OF PEOPLE, BE AFRAID OF G-D, LOVE EVERY JEW WITH YOUR HEART". LOVE EVERY JEW WITH YOUR OPEN HEART TODAY, TOGETHER WILL MAKE US WINNERS.WE SHOULD GO BACK TO THE BASICS AND BE THE MORAL COMPASS FOR OUR CHILDREN, FOR JUDAISM AND THE REST OF THE WORLD. I AM SURE HASHEM WOULD BE PLEASED IF WE SERIOUSLY IMPLEMENTED THAT.

(33)
Andy,
March 15, 2011 2:10 PM

"Get up, stand up, Don't give up the fight." Bob Marley

I agree. So,we need a plan as to how to wake up and more importantly get up and start moving in the right direction.Not hit the snooze button. For reasons beyond my understanding God allowed the modern state of Israel to be brought into being by those [secular Zionists]with a different understanding as to how to bring about being a light to nations and what repairing the world means than do the the rabbis writing on aish.com. I hope I'm mistaken but for the majority of Jews in the State of Israel and Jews elsewhere to begin living Torah as interpreted by any recognized Orthodox sect/group/sages etc does not seem to me to me to be a likely prospect in the short term so some change in tactics seem to make sense. Maybe we don't need the majority as the midrash states only 20% left Egypt and that seemed to have worked out OK. We seem to need some unity of purpose and mutual respect in the Orthodox Jewish world for starters, and if that chasm is bridged I believe it more likely the rest will follow. Promoting aliyah even among the non Zionists is another idea maybe worth considering.. I can imagine thousands more Jews in Israel being a positive statement to any terrorist attack. At the moment it seems to me that those wanting to eliminate the Jewish State are more vocal,more passionate,more dedicated and more numerous than those wanting to preserve it. We need to turn the tide.I believe that God is with us but it seems to me we need to do our part and then as said in scripture, the righteous of all nations will benefit. Many of our enemies also believe that God is with them and the bible states that "God hears Ishmael" so Israel's success this time around seems to me to be by no means a done deal. It seems realistic to me that if we don't wake up and move in the right direction our enemies may continue to gain strength and the future of Israel as a Jewish State may God forbid not be a reality for many more generations.

(32)
James Kendall,
March 15, 2011 12:50 AM

This infuriates me

I know that the Israeli/Palestinian crisis is complex and with both sides having members being guilty of something. But when I read up on what representatives from France, Hamas and the Palestinian Authority said about this cold hearted murder of five people....it makes me mad.
These reps condemn, not these specific murders, but all violence in the Occupied Territories. How politically correct of them. Why can't they call these murders for what they are? A horrible and vile crime.
I mean...come on, grown awake Israeli men fighting grown awake Palestinian men cannot be used as a comparisson for the deaths of people sleeping in their beds.

(31)
Elaine Rolnick-B,
March 14, 2011 9:02 PM

Every newspaper in America should be printing this ! !

(30)
ruth housman,
March 14, 2011 7:41 PM

all in this together

I was deeply moved by the article by Rabbi Blech about his Purim experiences and I was moved to write to Chabad about this. Now to my knowledge, this article was not explored and so I sent the email link. There are, two very important Jewish sites on line with great visibility and of course, others but if these two sites cannot cross connect then how are we as Jews ever going to get it, together?
As to the Middle East, a brand new paradigm has got to be created, and that will involve something completely different. To continue circling endlessly is not productive, and yes, terrible bloodshed has been created on all sides, and it is sobering. How can one live in a country never quite knowing, when one is saying a final good-bye to one's children, to anyone?
This is not a way to live.
G_d does not renege on Promises, and just maybe, as in the wonderful miracle of connects that not only created Purim, but also a personal story, G_d, wrote us ALL into a massive story, and ALL means all of us, together, and just maybe this journey of soul has to take us into some new understandings, and new solutions to an age old problem.
I am saying the solution is within words themselves. Why? Because I am following a "language-based story" of not a few, but MASSIVE ongoing connects, the astonishment of story, and I have proof of this. I am not whistling in the wind.
So when people desire to find out, what's really going on, then maybe it will be time to examine one person's words, this still small voice, that is saying something, ineffably deep.

(29)
Anonymous,
March 14, 2011 7:20 PM

The way I feel about these attacks is... if they attack Israel, they attack me. I will fight back. No one has a right to break into someone's home and kill them. It is especially horrific when the family is Jewish. That is just how I feel. Equally, the same for any home invasion. The people that do these kinds of things have no empathy for anyone and will do anything to get what they covet. Terrorists and many others, including people in politics covet. Eradicate covetousness and all violence will stop. We should cling to Hashem, do what we are supposed to do as in accepting each other as human beings with rights, and study Torah every day. The bell that is always ringing is singing, "don't do to anyone else what you don't want done to yourself." Otherwise, it could very well be the sound of death and a spiritual death at that. If we want Moshiach to come, we must do what Hashem wants us to do. It is that simple but the simplicity makes it invariably difficult.

(28)
Anonymous,
March 14, 2011 3:04 PM

Quiero traducir este tema al Español

Shalom!
I need your permission to translate this interesting topic into Spanish, because I consider it very important to feel real awareness to the Jewish people in relation to being truly Jewish.
I hope your news.
Shalom!

(27)
Do Lern Hwei,
March 14, 2011 10:57 AM

Integration not Assimilation

It is sad to read of the terrorist attack on a Jewish family in Itamar.
I think that integration of the Palestinians into the rest of the people in Israel will prevent Islamic extremists from instigating Palestinians to be violent. Islamic seperatism works in places where there are majority population of Muslims: Mindanao in the Philippines during the 1980s, PAS (a fundamentalist Islamic political party) calling for the rule of Islamic law in Kelantan, Malaysia during the 1990s and just last year, the civil unrest in the mainly Muslim province of Xinjiang in China.
Esther and Mordechai were able to foil Haman's plot to exterminate the Jews in the ancient Persian Empire because they had integrated with the other people.
I think that it would be good not to have seperate Jewish and Palestinian settlements but to live alongside each other while keeping our unique identity.

Elana,
March 14, 2011 9:11 PM

Wha?

I don't even understand your comment; what has anything to do with brutal murder? People cannot kill other innocent people no matter what. I don't care if they integrated or assimilated or whateverlated. You Shall NOT Kill.

Dvirah,
March 15, 2011 5:30 PM

Integration Exists

Mr. Hwei appears to believe that Israeli Arabs and Israeli Jews live in totally separated enclaves (as was the case in South Africa). As someone living in the country, I bear witness that this is not the situration in Israel. The Arab Israelis live as they please among their Jewish neighbors or in their own villages as they choose - and even when they live in an all-Arab village they are not confined to it but can travel freely anywhere they like. An Arab Israeli can enter a Jewish neighborhood without fear. Alas, the situation is not symmetrical as a Jew entering an Arab neighborhood is at some risk, as has been demonstrated. Nevertheless, there is a lot of traffic back and forth between Jewish and Arab neighborhoods, mostly for commerical reasons but also sometime for friendship.

(26)
Inez Dunker (Rachael),
March 14, 2011 5:46 AM

Thank you, you are so right!

(25)
Emmauel Fidel,
March 14, 2011 5:25 AM

We are here

You have secret admirers and those who will fight with you. I am onenof them. Do not thinknyour alone.

(24)
Mbamara mike mack,
March 14, 2011 2:50 AM

i think all the jews should pray for peace

I am a jew,i think the brutal killing of inocent lifes should stop.We the jews in diaspora that are hereing all this are not happy the way the inocent ones waste their life.I think their is need for peace.

Lloyd A. Oestreicher,
March 14, 2011 7:50 PM

itamar

Was there not more than one terrorist?

(23)
Bob,
March 14, 2011 1:27 AM

One Jew too many

Imagine our planet as a train speeding through the heavens. To much of the world Jews are excess baggage ready to be thrown off the train at the first opportinity. The only place they can land with some degree of safety is the land of Israel. However as long as even one Jew walks and breathes air in the land of Israel that will be one Jew too many for most Arabs. However the Palestinians deserve and need an independent homeland. They will always be a dagger ready to stab the heart of Israel.

Anonymous,
March 15, 2011 5:36 PM

Palestinian Homeland

The Palestinians can have a "homeland" whenever they choose to. They do not need anyone's help or permission; they now have all the resources to build a working country if they choose to do so. In fact, they've had those resources for at least 40 years. My obeservation is that they (1) do not choose to be truely independent and (2) seem not to have the mental resouces (taken collectively) to be adult and independent. This last is based on a psychological analysis of the behavior of the Palestinian leadership over the last 30 years. They seem to have the mentality of 3-year-olds. And with toddlers one cannot negociate, nor can they "self-determine" or be responsible for themselves. Ideally, the UN would be responsible for them until they "grow up"; in actual fact, Israel seems to be nominated as "parent."

Isahiah62,
March 17, 2011 9:58 PM

two staseis suicide

Please tell us what "palestinians" have done to deserve anything? Should threat and death be rewarded with land? Please tell us why the Jordanian and Syrians instantly renamed themselves Palestinian when prior to that the word meant JEWS- (hint-Arafat the Egyptian and Soviet agit-prop) There is no such thing as Palestinian people, not an ethnic group- granchildren of refugess born in Leb and other nations are not refugees of any war or country- every ARAB nation has thrownthem out too _Libya, Jordan etc- and yet all these lies have gotten them most of ISRAEL lands - Transjordan and Gaza- and what did JEWS get for that? threats and rockets and dead babies with throats slit- you are a fool- land for NO PEACE has not worked and it won't ever as long as the goal for Islamfascism is genocide of the rest of the JEWS - please pay attention to reality not your fantasy - they aim to demolish ISarel piece by piece and people like you are comlicit in this insanity of cutting Israel in another half AGAIN for nothing in return but dead JEWS

(22)
Anonymous,
March 14, 2011 1:07 AM

I am a Jew. I lived in Israel for 3 years and passionately support the right of Israel to exist. I have, however, never supported the settlements in the West Bank. Neither do many of my relatives in Israel. I believe in the two state solution. The Palestinians also need a county of their own.
The murder of innocent children is always horrific. It is also true that the Palestinian government has not done much to try and counteract the revilement of Jews. However, it is also necessary to see that this settlement was in the heart of an area that is seen as future Palestinian territory. The existence of the settlement in this area can be seen as a provocation to the local population. There are usually two sides to a story and while the murders should be condemned, the situation needs to be looked at with open eyes to honestly look at all the factors that led up to it. Israel cannot guarantee the safety of Jews in remote settlements in the West Bank. Neither, I believe, should it expend its resources to do so.
Apart from all of the above, my heart goes out to the bereaved.

Anonymous,
March 14, 2011 10:23 AM

Minimize hate by learning

I am not Jewish but I am very concerned by the fate of Israel because its existence cannot be denied.
You think that the settlements are a provocation for the Palestinians. This is right. If the Palestian authorities since 1948 would have recognized the right of exitence of the Jewish state as dicided by UNO, there would be no settlements today.
After the killing of the Jewish family Netanjahu announced the permission of new settlements on palestinian ground. This is a reaction that one can understand, but it will not contribute to peace.
In this situation of hate, what can we do? Love your neighbour as you love yourself? Isn't this one of the Jewish conceptions? And to bring light to the darkness of the world! These are so good Ideas, but so difficult to realize. And it is not sufficiant that only some Jews try to do so. The two religions based an Judaism - Christians and Muslims - should have the same goal.
Every reasonable person of these religions must try to do the first step, try to minimize hate by learning, studying and knowing his "ennemi", speaking to him and recognizing him as valuable as himself.
Thank you for your comment. Ingrid

(21)
Andy,
March 13, 2011 11:45 PM

don't know if a wake up call will be heard

It seems to me manyJews feel the need for a Jewish State which involves ruling over people who want us out at best or dead at worst is not worth the" headache". Many choose to ignore the issue and many assimilate keeping some cultural customs [Chanukah candles,Passover dinner,[a bar in Brooklyn is having a Purim party after a St Patricks day bash.] Seinfeld and similar cultural Judaism seems hip but standing up for a Jewish State's right to exist is not comfortable and more than what most seem ready to do .I think that with the exception of Evangelical Christains and Orthodox Jews the majority of all other groups are not with Israel so yes I agree we need to WAKE UP!. How to accomplish that when there are so many opt out options as per examples above is the challenge.

(20)
Joe Tabak,
March 13, 2011 8:28 PM

excellent article

An interesting article that tells me The Rich should feed the Poor and the strong should help the weak

(19)
,
March 13, 2011 8:07 PM

Christian/Catholic standing strong with Israel...

My heart bleeds whenever i hear or read about the horrors that the Jews must endure in Israel at the hands of these demented and misguided Islamic terrorists. i support Israel against all that would tear her down for out of Israel and Abraham came the knowledge of the One True God, the only Creator of all we see. Israel stand strong, our prayers are with you and with the families who are so courageous in standing up for their country and the faith. Without Israel the world would not be the same. God bless Israel and the Jews...

(18)
Donald,
March 13, 2011 8:06 PM

Sick Excuses with their Religion???

If you say to yourself, "this is just another mad man"!!!
You denying the fact that it is the Muslim religion that spurs "human insanity" with justification of godly purpose.
WAKE-UP!!!

(17)
Lois Wasserman,
March 13, 2011 6:59 PM

We live as Jews in our daily lives,but we do know people who were born Jewish who know only they are Jewish.

Who is a Jew? Who knows about our Jewish teachings going way back more than three thousand years ago? Most know about our history, our mistreatment throughout the centuries. Kashrut is learned and practised or not practised. Helping those in need is in our Bible.in our Talmud and Siddur;but how many people take this seriously? Not in my generation and sadly ,not in my family.Our chosenness means we are responsible. We
are responsible to ourselves and society and let the rest of the world,we are a living people,who live our lives as God's children.
Lois D. Wasserman Ph.D.

(16)
Marvin Greenberg,
March 13, 2011 6:32 PM

We will create our own destiny!

There is no hope! The hate virus is within them. How do you remove a virus?

(15)
malka tzril,
March 13, 2011 5:38 PM

Itamar attack

It is a sad case ,and what lifes will the rest of the children have. When will the Jew stop hiring them to built our land,and hire them for jobs? How much more Jewish blood has to be spilled for the Jew to wake up already?
Must we continue to pay a high price for our blood?
So this is what to be a Jew is?

(14)
Hadassah,
December 6, 2005 12:00 AM

So strange

This piece was great and just what I needed to hear. I often wonder, what is the role of the average Jew in America today? After spending a year in Israel I can't seem to reconcile the laid-back "life is great and I'm not going anywhere" attitude of so many TORAH OBSERVANT Americans. It's as if the importance of the land of Israel has been almost forgotten, pushed to the sidelines. How can it be that we profess to be frum Jews living in a time where Eretz Yisrael is OURS, and we aren't exerting every ounce of our energy to move there?
Have we lost sight of our role in Jewish History, of the fact that America is NOT the place to be, that the geulah is close and NOW is the time to go to Eretz Yisrael?
How confusing it is to be a Jew in the world today.

(13)
Alison,
January 30, 2003 12:00 AM

How moving!

This was such an unbelievable piece. We need to stand together and remain the chosen people. We must remember our ancestors and what they stood for.
Thank you for the wake-up call!

(12)
Anonymous,
January 17, 2003 12:00 AM

Inspiring

What Passion, and, reach! The ideas are powerful, and very much an answer in this hour of tremendous need.

(11)
Shira Levin,
January 8, 2003 12:00 AM

Jews must wake up and live as Jews

Jews throughout history have been at best tolerated and at worst hated. What
is behind the hate is that man would
rather be as G-d than be reminded that
there is G-d. Our people are reminders
that G-d exists and He is G-d not man.

(10)
Steven,
January 8, 2003 12:00 AM

Easy way to follow

We as Jew, more than ever must be as one. Too many of us just don´t care, thing that Mr Bush or Mr Sharon will take care of things. W R O N G !!!!
We are to apart. Too many of us don´t go to synagogue, too many of us think it all will go away. Wake up people, I live in Spain and drive for one and a half hour to nearest synagogue every Friday afternoon. I take on a new mitzvah every week. I send money to Israel every week in one form or another. My kippah never leaves my head even though the spanish are almost as ignorant as they were in 1492. For many years I didn´t even touch the Torah but now it is like like bread and water to me. Shabbat prayers, weekly prayers are my energy against the anti Semitic evil that grows stronger every day. When was the last time some of us skipped going to a restaurant and decided to buy something for IDF soldiers with that money instead. I am sorry to say but too many of us do nothing or too little. My last income tax check was used on Israel, I have been to there three times and next August I will be there again and each time I go to Jerusalem I go to the wall and pray for the closet Jews to get out. How many of us have a clue how hard it is to live in Israel today?! But I have an idea how many of us close eyes and mouth and skip the turn to help. I ma not afraid to speak, I do my best and my E-mail address is the prove: barcelona33@hotmail.com

(9)
Batya Adaya,
January 4, 2003 12:00 AM

Judaism is a Religion

Judaism is a Religion! We are Hashem's children and people. Our devotion is to Hashem. The Shema our proclamation and honoring and worshiping The Creator,our Creator, HE is our parents, HE is our
G_d, He is our King and that is what makes us Jews and we should never loose sight of this!

(8)
emil(moshe)pimentelli,
January 2, 2003 12:00 AM

this commentaty is great

You should have more comentaries like this so Jewish and non jewish understand Yisrael situation
Shalom

(7)
Donald Berry,
January 1, 2003 12:00 AM

Good Analytical Summary, but...

R. Schwartz has analyzed the current crisis in Israel, and that of the world's Jewry in general, in a very concise manner. But I wish he had made one point unequivocally clear, i.e., until the vast majority of the world's Jewry repent from their sins, and return to HaShem through their best attempt at Torah observance, then there will be NO PEACE for any Jews anywhere! And for a start, how about keeping the Sabbath! I think that if the vast majority of Jews just do that, that HaShem would be ecstatic! Then we could move onto the other nine mitzvot initially received, and heard, at Mt. Sinai. One could speculate that for observance of just those 10 commandments, (Exodus 20:1-14), that HaShem would probably eliminate Y. Arafat and the entire PLO. I am taking poetic liberties here, but it's to make a point, i.e., without observance of the Written Torah - as a minimum, there is NO hope for peace in Israel, (Deuteronomy 11 & Chapters 28 - 33, Joshua 8:33-35, Malachai chapters 1 - 3, Psalms 19:7-14, & chapter 24).

(6)
Anonymous,
January 1, 2003 12:00 AM

It all boils down to this: Jews are the backbone of the Judeo-Christian World, i.e., West. I'm striken by some unrest when I learn our world is under threat. In short and after all. Don't world leaders recognize this?

I have Jewish relatives, but am not technically a Jew myself,although my Jewish friends and relatives call me a "righteous gentile". Isn't it sweet of them? Well, I am concerned over the survival and welfare of Jews. Isn't there a way to wipe out or merely remedy today's new upsurge of anti-Semitism? Don't world leaders have a better say than, "let's sit down and talk over the Palestinian issue?"

(5)
Ester Tarnogol,
December 30, 2002 12:00 AM

This article may awake us, it must be distributed

I think that it is very important that this article will be distributed, among
the jewish people in massive jewish media.
Thank you for being there.
Ester Tanogol

(4)
Ruth Broch,
December 30, 2002 12:00 AM

Re: To live as Jews by Rabbi S. Schwartz

Dear Rabbi Schwartz,

This is such an excellent and informative article that I have, besides printing it out for myself to re-read at more leisure than I have at work, emailed it to just about everyone I know, family and friends in the States, some religious, some ultra-secular. Thank you! It is so important for Jews in the Diaspora to know that what is happening here to us, is also happening to them. We are all one and must think of ourselves as one people no matter where we are living. (I encourage - even demand- all Jews to come on aliya though! We need them here desperately.)

(3)
Charles Gelfand,
December 29, 2002 12:00 AM

We should do what?

We should do what?

Please put your suggestions in an outline for us to follow.

I agree we must reexamine ourselves, but what specifically do you suggest we do.

AUTHOR RESPONDS

Addendum
What can people do to change the "situation"

!) Visit Israel now in our time of need.

2) Give Tzedakkah more than you are comfortable giving; especially causes
that relate to helping Israel's physical and spiritual state.

3) Learn more about the mission of the Jewish people daily. Live with what
you learn.

4) Pray for the safety of Israel, the Jewish people, and the world. Pray for
the full redemption of humanity from terror, evil and confusion.

5) Invite someone to share a Shabbat with you.

6) Accept or seek an invitation for Shabbat or study with a fellow Jew.

7) Meet with friends and family to develop your own list of ways to make a
difference for ourselves and others.

(2)
Anonymous,
December 29, 2002 12:00 AM

True

To see the higher vision of who we as the Jewish people are - imbued with a mission that distancing ourselves from can come to a point more painful than what we fear by staying true to ourselves in our spiritual context.

(1)
William J. Reiss,
December 29, 2002 12:00 AM

A "wake up call."

Rabbi Schwartz's essay is moving and challenging. I hope that his next piece
will expand on his final paragraph:("Just as our enemies have never differentiated between Jews, so too must we make no exceptions. It is time to wake up! We're all in this together.")

My nephew is having his bar mitzvah and I am thinking of a gift. In the old days, the gift of choice was a fountain pen, then a Walkman, and today an iPod. But I want to get him something special. What do you suggest?

The Aish Rabbi Replies:

Since this event celebrates the young person becoming obligated in the commandments, the most appropriate gift is, naturally, one that gives a deeper understanding of the Jewish heritage and enables one to better perform the mitzvot! (An iPod, s/he can get anytime.)

With that in mind, my favorite gift idea is a tzedakah (charity) box. Every Jew should have a tzedakah box in his home, so he can drop in change on a regular basis. The money can then be given to support a Jewish school or institution -- in your home town or in Israel (every Jews’ “home town”). There are beautiful tzedakah boxes made of wood and silver, and you can see a selection here.

For boys, a really beautiful gift is a pair of tefillin, the black leather boxes which contain parchments of Torah verses, worn on the bicep and the head. Owning a pair of Tefillin (and wearing them!) is an important part of Jewish identity. But since they are expensive (about $400), not every Bar Mitzvah boy has a pair. To make sure you get kosher Tefillin, see here.

In 1944, the Nazis perpetrated the Children's Action in the Kovno Ghetto. That day and the next, German soldiers conducted house-to-house searches to round up all children under age 12 (and adults over 55) -- and sent them to their deaths at Fort IX. Eventually, the Germans blew up every house with grenades and dynamite, on suspicion that Jews might be in hiding in underground bunkers. They then poured gasoline over much of the former ghetto and incinerated it. Of the 37,000 Jews in Kovno before the Holocaust, less than 10 percent survived. One of the survivors was Rabbi Ephraim Oshri, who later published a stirring collection of rabbinical responsa, detailing his life-and-death decisions during the Holocaust. Also on this date, in 1937, American Jews held a massive anti-Nazi rally in New York City's Madison Square Garden.

In a letter to someone who found it difficult to study Torah, the 20th century sage the Chazon Ish wrote:

"Some people find it hard to be diligent in their Torah studies. But the difficulty persists only for a short while - if the person sincerely resolves to submerge himself in his studies. Very quickly the feelings of difficulty will go away and he will find that there is no worldly pleasure that can compare with the pleasure of studying Torah diligently."

Although actions generally have much greater impact than thoughts, thoughts may have a more serious effect in several areas.

The distance that our hands can reach is quite limited. The ears can hear from a much greater distance, and the reach of the eye is much farther yet. Thought, however, is virtually limitless in its reach. We can think of objects millions of light years away, and so we have a much greater selection of improper thoughts than of improper actions.

Thought also lacks the restraints that can deter actions. One may refrain from an improper act for fear of punishment or because of social disapproval, but the privacy of thought places it beyond these restraints.

Furthermore, thoughts create attitudes and mindsets. An improper action creates a certain amount of damage, but an improper mindset can create a multitude of improper actions. Finally, an improper mindset can numb our conscience and render us less sensitive to the effects of our actions. We therefore do not feel the guilt that would otherwise come from doing an improper act.

We may not be able to avoid the occurrence of improper impulses, but we should promptly reject them and not permit them to dwell in our mind.

Today I shall...

make special effort to avoid harboring improper thoughts.

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